One year later... Whitlock talks to The Big Lead again...

Tell 2-3 generations of foxsports.com employees that, or sportsjones.com employees. Oh, that's right, they were just shown the door without buyouts.

But Mizzou, you're arguing a point I'm not making. I'm merely saying that there are millions of people who use papers as their main source of sports news and commentary. TBL's comment that no sports fans use newspapers is a crock of crap and Internet whiz-kid snarkery.

 

Sometimes I firmly believe that JW may believe more of his own bullshit than any human being who ever lived. Is he honestly saying that in this talk-radio, 24/7 argument culture that there are more people writing soft featurized columns than taking loud, deliberately contrarian stances on the sports pages these days? Whether they get rewarded with teh golden APSE or not, he's on mushrooms if he believes that.

 

"Screw you, Joe Posnanski."

 

OK, so I'm not the only one who thought of that as a (partial) shot across Joe's bow.

 

I think Posnanski (easily my favorite columnist working stateside today) goes more indepth on his stuff than Albom ever dreamed of. Plus, Pos isn't afraid of taking a side.

 

True, but as a regular reader of the Star, it seems his feature-y columns (which I agree are much better than Albom's) outnumber his opinion columns 2-to-1, or around that ratio.

 

Yeah. He no doubt has plenty of framed articles, though probably not as many as Reilly or Albom.

And, in his defense, his gig isn't all mushy stuff either. He does a pretty good "shaking my head in befuddlement" column, be it about the Royals or the Chefs offense. And when he wants to lay it out and attack, he can do it very, very effectively, probably even more so because it's fairly rare.

Priest Holmes and Trent Green probably have a stack of JoePo columns 10-feet high, though.

 

Golly, he rips the hell out of the APSE award and what it's done for the business.

Is there any paper in the country who strives for APSEs like the Kansas City Star? Maybe Orlando.

Is there any columnist more successful in the APSE columnist category recently than Joe Posnanski, Whitlock's colleague? Maybe Plaschke.

He took a lot of shots at the industry, which indirectly landed on the lap of the newspaper who pays him very, very well.

 

By the way, I love his perspective on it all. I just found it deliciously ironic.

 

Sorry, but the moment somebody admits he wrote a specific column with the hope of winning a Pulitzer prize should be the moment he is disqualified from winning the Pulitzer prize.

Opinion needs to be genuine. And admitting you are conciously attempting to win the Pulitzer makes your column more than a little disingenous.

That said, I don't think the Pulitzer committee will have to worry about it.

 

OK, I've got one more thing to say. . .

Whitlock says that he doesn't have a shot at some bigger markets because he's "outspoken, unconventional, uninterested in office politics and. . .black."

I don't doubt that some of that is correct.

But I can't help but think that maybe, just maybe, his enormous ego plays a role in it too. Hey, the interview was a good read. But the one thing I was left thinking? God, I hope I never have to work with him.

I mean: does he really think that he deserves a shot at the Pulitzer prize this year?

Really?

He says he idolizes Royko, but Royko didn't walk around telling everyone how great he was. He let his writing do the talking. And I guarantee Royko never handicapped his chances at winning the Pulitzer Prize midway through the year.

That said, I agree with some of what Whitlock says. The problem, as is the problem with many of his columns, is that they are too extreme.

He wants to paint sports journalism as an either/or proposition: either you have a sports section built on strong opinion and writers who will hold athletes, the media, the fans accountable, or you have a fluffy, featurey, Sports Illustrated-ish section.

Instead, the best sections are the ones who have a little bit of everything. Interesting enough, he works for one: with Whitlock's strong opinion, Posnanski's writing ability, and its stable of reporters, the Star is a great read, front to back.